Foto Friday - Jeans

From yesterday's shopping trip:

In the dressing room trying on her jeans.

About 2 minutes before her super loud meltdown.

$202.02

I did something really random and sporadic day which is totally not like me.

I decided last minute...literally today at 7:15am...to head to Williamsburg to the Tanger Outlet Mall to check out Carter's...since they were having their 50% off Labor Day sale and I wanted to beat the weekend shoppers. (You can shop on-line too! I just prefer to shop in person.)

This is what $202.02 got M with the help of an additional 20% off coupon they emailed me!
Not too bad!!

 We walked away with:
1 winter coat (2 layers - with a fall fleece that zips out)
1 hoodie
3 dresses
2 long sleeve cardigans
1 short sleeve cardigan
1 pair of jeans
2 leggings
3 pairs of play pants
5 long sleeve shirts
2 pajama sets

We also made a quick stop at Old Navy (where I actually purchased 2 shirts and a pair of jeans for myself), and we couldn't leave without these two items.

I'm usually not that into characters on her clothes...but for jammies and a play shirt...I can compromise with M for sure. :)

Oh, and another stop into The Children's Place for some tights (for her dresses)...we couldn't stay much longer because M was losing it. Which is too bad because I barely looked at Children's Place...and didn't even make it into Gymboree or OshKosh! My wallet probably thanks me anyways...

The only thing we will still need are SHOES for M. I love fall/winter...but I will miss being able to forgo socks and being able to just slip on her crocks or sandals.

And, I'd probably be lying if I said I was completely done clothes shopping for M for the fall/winter. :)

M Pedaling Her Trike!!!

Last evening M learned to pedal her trike all by herself!

Surprisingly, I caught it on video!


P.S. Please ignore my annoyingly high pitched voice...I think I was more excited than her! :)

Foto Friday - Tantrum

Her favorite place to cry/hide when she is upset.

Oh, the joys of a 2 year old! :)

M's Second Birthday Party!

I'm back to share how the 2nd birthday PARTY went! Mostly...I'll let the pictures do the talking. Oh and I should mention all the decor and such were ideas from Pinterest. :)

We had family over at our place at 3pm. Then we invited family and friends to dinner at The 11th St. Precinct. It's a bar and grill in the East Village of Davenport. I reserved the back patio and we had it all to ourselves...which was great!

Here's the invitation! I ordered it from a seller on Etsy.

My Dad helped me set up and pick up balloons and cupcakes since Josh had to work.

Welcome Sign.

The welcome sign and balloons.

The dessert table.

Chocolate covered bananas. They were a hit! None were leftover!

Her birthday cake. I got lazy and just wrote M instead of Madison! Haha!

Tissue poms! My favorite decor. So easy and fun. I'll probably never throw another party without tissue poms! Haha!

Her monthly picture display. Sorry...bad photo...but that's all I got.

The Birthday Song!

Didn't get a great shot of her shirt...it has the number 2, her name, and George on it! I ordered it from Etsy.

Blowing out her candle.

Grandma and the birthday girl. :)

4 Generations!

At the restaurant...with her second Birthday Song/Candle/Cake. :)

The AWESOME cake that my cousin, Erin, made and decorated for her!

The hit present of the evening was a stroller and baby doll M received from our friends Ryan and Jennifer. ALL the kids wanted to push the stroller...and had to be tricky and sneak in their turn when M was distracted...otherwise, M was all over that stroller and was not gonna share it!

Her bestie, SG, got a few turns in!

My 2nd cousin, Luke (Erin's son). What a cutie!

I wish I would have used my camera A LOT more. :(  I feel like I missed SO many great photo opportunities! The kids were able to run around (like crazy) and they all loved the balloons. And, I didn't even get a group shot of M with all her friends. :( Or really any shots of all the family and friends that joined us! But, I'm glad I got a video of us singing the birthday song (thanks Erin for reminding me...and thanks to Tracy for taking the video!) since I forgot last year. HOWEVER...I can't get it to load...so...sorry!

Thanks again to ALL our wonderful FAMILY and FRIENDS who celebrated with us! We love you all! :) It was a WONDEFUL evening! Can't wait to do it all again...next year. :)

M's 2nd Birthday Day

On the morning of her birthday, M woke up to her birthday sign hanging on our way. She loved it!

After her doctor's appointment...which went great...we headed to HyVee...and of course she got a birthday cookie and balloon from Mama.

Later on...Uncle, Grandpa, and Grandma all came over.

Uncle got her a new balance bike.

Daddy then showed up with her favorite: a balloon and flowers!

Grandma got her a dolly and a play toaster. I took pictures of her opening these gifts on Tracy's camera...and failed to get any on my own. Sorry!

Grandpa got her the Little People's Farm.

And...after dinner...she was sung the birthday song and got to enjoy some cake and ice cream. She is a pro at blowing out candles this year. I'm pretty sure that was her favorite part of the whole day! Haha!

It was a wonderful day celebrating our little girl turning 2!

The Birthday Party post will be up tomorrow!!!

M, Uncle, & The Balance Bike

My brother got M a balance bike for her birthday!

Anyways, I got quite a few photos of them together...including a few pretty funny ones...so, thought I would share them in a single post. Enjoy!

Trying to figure it out.

Posing for a pic with her new bike.

Awwww.

Onto the funny ones.

M's face made me smile.

And then this picture totally makes me laugh out loud!

Of course she decided she wanted to sit on her bike.

This one also makes me smile...I think she (we) were really testing Uncle's patience at this point.

Yay! In the end...we got a great picture. :)

Thanks for the awesome bike, Uncle!!!

Foto Friday - Daddy's Birthday Girl

M LOVES balloons and flowers...and got both when Daddy returned home from work on her birthday!

More posts on this little girl's birthday celebrations in the future.

...

And yes...that is a holiday wreath still up on our home. Embarrassing!!!!

24 Months

This post should probably be titled, "2 Years Old." But, I can't bring myself to do that...24 months makes her seem younger.

I was seriously mad at my BabyCenter email update earlier this week. The subject line read: My Preschooler This Week: Your 2 Year Old. Um. She's a toddler, ok. OK?! I am just coming to terms with calling her a toddler...and then they go and spring "Preschooler" on me?! No way!

She was actually in the mood for me to take a few pictures to start with! I can't believe she's too tall and gets in the way of her sign!!!

Sitting down so I can see her sign.

Anyways, we went to the doctor on Monday and she's in the 95th percentile for weight and height. She weighs around 32 lbs. and is around 36 inches tall. She's 3 feet tall!!! I think I'll be buying her 3T clothes for the most part...especially for anything I want to last through the winter. 2T fits her great right now.

This last month has brought LOTS of verbal growth for M. She now says LOTS of words (too many to list them all), and is more willing to (try to) say new words when we ask her. She is also finally stringing two words together without me prompting her in between.

Some of her newest favorite words that we hear often are:
Pay (for play)
Shide (for outside)
Fry (for french fry and for fly...)
Yesh (yes)
Bike
(Can you tell our little girl LOVES being outside!)

She is also great at saying, "Yesh, peas." So cute!

Her newest favorite skill is jumping. The girl LOVES jumping. She's great at it, too!

She loves painting with water. This keeps her busy outside a lot and for a long time.

Pouting about something...


She still enjoys stickers and coloring. She loves watching her shows on TV. She also likes books.

She still LOVES the park and being pushed in the swing. She can swing on the big girls swings now too. She's growing up too fast...

No real progress on potty training...same as last month, but I think she's probably ready. She's more purposeful before bed when she uses her potty. She's comfortable with the words. I'd say she goes pee 2-3 times a week. She gets so excited. We do a potty dance/song and she likes flushing the toilet. She is also very aware of me when I go to the bathroom. She usually cheers for me when I'm going. It's pretty funny I guess. I think I'll try and train her sometime within the next month or so...we'll see...

SHE CAN COUNT! She still has no real concept of actually counting things, but she can say the numbers 1-12. We are still working on ABCs...she now says 'U' instead of me. She still laughs when I say 'W." I need to start working on getting her to associate the sounds with the actual letters I suppose.

Showing me how old her is with her fingers.


Her eating is pretty much the same. No meat. Lotsa dairy (but I am switching her her to 1% milk now) and fruit. She still gobbles down Casey's breadsticks. She loves ice cream (of course). She loves dipping her fries into ketchup.

She still naps once a day and sleeps from about 8:30pm until 7:30am.

No new teeth...that I know of. She went to the dentist with me when I had my appointment...but wouldn't open her mouth for any of us to see. :)

I think she was 'counting' her gold fish crackers.


She gets embarrassed when she falls or trips (sometimes) if we aren't at home. She freezes and puts her head down. It's kinda funny really (well, not to her). Also, if she does actually does get hurt, her first reaction is to yell, "NO! NO! NO!"

When she is angry at me she runs into her room and slams the door. *sigh* Already?!

I feel like I am forgetting something. I wasn't as mindful about keeping notes for her update this month.

Oh, and I won't be tracking her with pictures monthly anymore...I think I'll be moving to quarterly updates. I know you're sad about that. Haha!


Deep in thought...

Foto Friday - Little Sweeper

I started sweeping the concrete in her play area so she could ride her bike without hitting a million little rocks...and now sweeping has become one of her newest favorite activities. Josh even modified a broom just for her! I'm not ever gonna stop her from helping me tidy up! :)

The Many Faces of Mama & Her Girl

M and I had some fun with my phone (camera) earlier this afternoon.
These pics make my heart fill with happiness beyond explanation!?
Love my little M.

Oooh...painting!

Tongues out!

Fishie faces.

Ahhhhhhh! Dad's almost home...the house is a mess and I have no clue what's for dinner! (Haha!)

Oooooh!!!

Kisses.

Eeeeee.

Oooohhhh. (Again. It's M's favorite.)

Funny faces (like on Yo Gabba Gabba).

Cheeeeeese!

Can't believe she'll be 2 in one week!!!